Excellent rooms, service, wine and breakfast. Beautiful place, nice pool. I hope I come back some day.

How Chosen:
Lavilla Hotel was booked up for the remainder of our stay in the area around Nizza Monferrato. The owner of Lavilla suggested this property. Booked via direct email contact from the website: cascinachristiana.com

Pros:
* en suite rooms have a functional kitchen and loft; excellent options for family, and longer stays as you can buy a lot of typical products and cook a rapid easy meal
* just a stone's throw from Nizza Monferrato and two petrol pumps
* hard wood flooring in some rooms
* owners are English and speak English
* priceless suggestion for multicourse dining at La Sosta (in Montebone, a death-defying drive South of the property into a sleepy hillside town) owned and waited by Luca, with food prepated by his lovely wife Locanda. All spelling phonetic.
* good bath products
* rooms contemporary and not a restored property
* very clean. Mind the silly June bugs.

Cons:
* no air-conditioning, only a ceiling fan with suggestion for timer use. I am in the habit of letting a room cool down in the evening before I return from dinner, but someone let themselves in (perhaps because my loft level room was also the linen closet) and shut the fan. Could be a bit stifling in September
* tiny television but you can catch BBC2 and world news
* very restrictive shower stalls with curved sliding doors - I accidentally shut the shower stream every time I attempt to wash the opposite elbow. Be prepared as you will let the pounds pack on!
* this was the only place where breakfast was charged extra and we were requested to indicate in advance how many would have breakfast
* one of the host's daughters had her wedding reception on the property the week end before we arrived and the harvest was in progress - thus the hosts (this inn is part of a functioning cantina) seemed a bit distracted, though Mr Kaplanski did apologize at breakfast that he could not arrange for a wine tasting, as would be typical

Cost: E70-90 per night per person (including all local taxes; breakfast extra E8 per person)

Stayed here as part of our honeymoon travelling around Italy and all I can say was that this place is brilliant. The views are unbelieveable, the rooms are spotless and comfortable and the price is extremely reasonable. Our host Peter helped us out a great deal with where to eat in the area and sites to visit. We were only booked in for 3 nights but stayed for 4. Would absolutely go back here when we visit Italy again.

Cascina Christiana was recommended to us by a friend and we booked to spend our first wedding anniversary there.

It is located in the remote Piedmont region of North Italy but within easy driving distance of Genoa airport. Following the directions provided by Peter and Christiane Kaplanski (the owners), the journey to the house was quite easy, even for nervous drivers !

We stayed in one of the self catering apartments which was spotless and spacious enough for the two of us. The kitchen was well equipped with essentials and even had extras.

Peter and Christiane were excellent hosts who leave you to your own devices but were always happy to offer advice on where to go and where to eat.

Cascina Christiana is a working winery and Peter K was more than happy to give us a guided tour and share his in-depth knowledge of wine making.

Some essential "hot spots" to visit would include Asti, Alba, the local village (Nizza Monferato) and our favourite - Acqui Terme. All are within easy driving distances of the house.

Restaurants to visit include La Due Lanterne (in Nizza M) where the staff speak very good English and provide an English menu for those not fluent in Italian, but the gastronomic highlight of the week was La Sosta in nearby Montabone - reached via a very scenic windy road (not for the faint hearted), our host Luca had opened the restaurant solely for us (at the request of Peter K) and provided the most sublime 7 course meal with accompanying wine - all for a ridiculously low price !

We would definately return to experience a little piece of heaven in Northern Italy !